IRS cuts and privacy threats endanger public trust and revenue

Photo: Panorama view of the Internal Revenue Service Building, located in the center of the Federal Triangle complex in Washington, D.C.. Photo credit: Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress. No known restrictions on publication. Commentary article by Vanessa Williamson and Ellis Chen. Brookings – April 15, 2025.

This year, as they have since World War II, millions of everyday taxpayers have diligently submitted their tax returns to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). However, something is rotten in the state of the IRS. Under the new administration, the agency has departed from longstanding data privacy practices and pursued immense, indiscriminate, and counterproductive workforce reductions. These decisions will hamper the agency’s core tax collection functions, robbing the American public of legally owed and much needed revenue. […]

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